As always, I haven’t read (most of) these books as they’re upcoming releases, and being featured here is by no means me recommending them! Hopefully you find something for yourself though!
Previous year’s posts can be found here (all linked from the final 2022 post): A Sampling of 2022’s Speculative Fiction Releases (Part 8) (also includes links to 2022 historical fiction posts)
The rules:
1. Books must fall into a category of speculative fiction – science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.
2. All books must have an actual release date.
3. All books must have a synopsis.
4. All books must have a title.
5. Any sequels will have it noted next to their titles.
6. Books in the UK are released on Thursdays, North America on Tuesdays. So for many of these dates, add an extra two days if they’re in the UK. I will try to make a note of any date discrepancies beyond that though.
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
Release date: January 3rd
Why is it on this list?: It’s only partially because of the beautiful cover, I swear – because it has two beautiful covers! (This is the UK cover, but they’re both eye-catching.) Is there perhaps a trend of East Asian mythology-inspired fantasy books right now? Sure, but it’s resulted in some pretty great books and, going off of the early praise, this one seems to be another one to add to that reputation.
In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her nation’s past—and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic fantasy series inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.
[continued description under the cut]
Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.
The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.
Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.
When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.
Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within—secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.
Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman
Release date: January 3rd
Why is it on this list?: A book centred around twin sisters – with the main character being an autistic changeling – is always welcome; I love some familial bonds in my fantasy. Sisterhood, a heist, and faeries, this YA fantasy has a lot of good things happening.
Twin sisters, both on the run, but different as day and night. One, a professional rogue, searches for a fabled treasure; the other, a changeling, searches for the truth behind her origins, trying to find a place to fit in with the realm of fae who made her and the humans who shun her.
[continued description under the cut]
Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies, they find themselves unraveling a larger mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.
Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister, and herself?
A Ruinous Fate by Kaylie Smith
Release date: January 3rd
Why is it on this list?: Gotta be honest: I generally put any witchy books that I stumble across on to these lists. This one is also a YA fantasy that’s getting pretty glowing reviews (and the first negative review I stumbled across was someone who was sad it wasn’t like a different YA book that I disliked, so I also count that as a win), with highlights being the cast of characters and the world building. Sounds promising!
Fate does not choose the weak. Fate chooses the ready.
Calliope Rosewood is a witch with a long streak of bad luck. Like all witches in Illustros, her fate is directly tied to Witch’s Dice—powerful artifacts that have blessed her kind with limitless magic but also set them on a path toward destruction. Cursed with unspeakable powers that terrify even the most dangerous witches and fae, Calla deserted her coven four years ago and has been in hiding with her two best friends since. But Calla is also hiding a grave secret: She is only three Rolls away from becoming the last Blood Warrior and starting the Final War that will decimate her people and eradicate their magic.
[continued description under the cut]
After a betrayal from her ex leads her one step closer to fulfilling that age-old prophecy, Calla is desperate to do whatever it takes to reset her fate . . . even if that means journeying into the deadly Neverending Forest with said ex and his enticing, yet enigmatic older brother to find the one being who can help her forge her own path. As Calla ventures farther into the enchanted woods, she finds her heart torn between her past desires and the alluring new possibilities of her future and learns that choosing your own destiny may come with deadly consequences.
Featuring a charming and chaotic ensemble cast of characters, this first book in a planned series by debut author Kaylie Smith will sweep readers away with its utterly immersive world building, swoon-worthy romance, and action-packed storytelling.
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
Release date: January 3rd
Why is it on this list?: I’ve never read a Holly Black book but I know enough about her books to know that this is a pretty highly anticipated release, set in the world of a previous series. This one sounds pretty adventurous too!
Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.
A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.
[continued description under the cut]
Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.
Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.
Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.
Phaedra by Laura Shepperson
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: I mean, that cover, right? I also personally like mythology retellings so I keep them on my own radar. Based on reviews, I’d maybe recommend lowering expectations for the quality of this, but it could be a good read to fill in any feminist Greek mythology retelling bingo squares.
Debut novelist Laura Shepperson offers a powerful feminist retelling of Phaedra and her unyielding quest for justice, perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes.
Phaedra has been cast to the side all her life: daughter of an adulteress, sister of a monster, and now unwilling bride to the much-older, power-hungry Theseus. Young, naïve, and idealistic, she has accepted her lot in life, resigned to existing under the sinister weight of Theseus’s control and the constant watchful eye of her handsome stepson Hippolytus.
[continued description under the cut]
When supposedly pious Hippolytus assaults her, Phaedra’s world is darkened in the face of untouchable, prideful power. In the face of injustice, Phaedra refuses to remain quiet any longer: such an awful truth demands to be brought to light. When Phaedra publicly accuses Hippolytus of rape, she sparks an overdue reckoning.
The men of Athens gather to determine the truth. Meanwhile, the women of the city, who have no vote, are gathering in the shadows. The women know truth is a slippery thing in the hands of men. There are two sides to every story, and theirs has gone unheard. Until now.
Timely, unflinching, and transportive, Laura Shepperson’s Phaedra carves open long-accepted wounds to give voice to one of the most maligned figures of mythology and offers a stunning story of how truth bends under the weight of patriarchy but can be broken open by the force of one woman’s bravery.
The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: A queer, Egyptian-inspired sci-fi fantasy duology with one character being a bookshop worker who’s part of a women’s rights group? Sign me tf up.
From debut author Hadeer Elsbai comes the first book in an incredibly powerful new duology, set wholly in a new world, but inspired by modern Egyptian history, about two young women–Nehal, a spoiled aristocrat used to getting what she wants and Giorgina, a poor bookshop worker used to having nothing–who find they have far more in common, particularly in their struggle for the rights of women and their ability to fight for it with forbidden elemental magic
[continued description under the cut]
As a waterweaver, Nehal can move and shape any water to her will, but she’s limited by her lack of formal education. She desires nothing more than to attend the newly opened Weaving Academy, take complete control of her powers, and pursue a glorious future on the battlefield with the first all-female military regiment. But her family cannot afford to let her go–crushed under her father’s gambling debt, Nehal is forcibly married into a wealthy merchant family. Her new spouse, Nico, is indifferent and distant and in love with another woman, a bookseller named Giorgina.
Giorgina has her own secret, however: she is an earthweaver with dangerously uncontrollable powers. She has no money and no prospects. Her only solace comes from her activities with the Daughters of Izdihar, a radical women’s rights group at the forefront of a movement with a simple goal: to attain recognition for women to have a say in their own lives. They live very different lives and come from very different means, yet Nehal and Giorgina have more in common than they think. The cause–and Nico–brings them into each other’s orbit, drawn in by the group’s enigmatic leader, Malak Mamdouh, and the urge to do what is right.
But their problems may seem small in the broader context of their world, as tensions are rising with a neighboring nation that desires an end to weaving and weavers. As Nehal and Giorgina fight for their rights, the threat of war looms in the background, and the two women find themselves struggling to earn–and keep–a lasting freedom.
City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer
Release date: January 10th (February 23rd UK)
Why is it on this list?: The first part of the tagline being “meets Strange the Dreamer” and then this line of the synopsis: “Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider.” Those are the entire reasons this is on this list. I mean, full disclosure, I’m probably not going to read this one, but if you’re into paranormal urban fantasies, this sounds fun.
Gotham meets Strange the Dreamer in this thrilling young adult fantasy about a cowardly girl who finds herself at the center of a criminal syndicate conspiracy, in a city where crooked politicians and sinister cults reign and dreaming means waking up as your worst nightmare.
[continued description under the cut]
Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider and slaughtered her way through town, nineteen-year-old Ness has been terrified—terrified of some other Nightmare murdering her, and terrified of ending up like her sister. Because in Newham, the city that never sleeps and the only other home Ness has known, dreaming means waking up as your worst fear.
Whether that means becoming a Nightmare that is only monstrous in appearance but is otherwise able to live a semi-normal existence, to transforming into a twisted, unrecognizable creature that terrorizes the citizens of Newham, no one is safe. Ness will do anything to avoid becoming another victim, even if that means lying low among the Friends of the Restful Soul, a seedy organization that may or may not be a cult.
But being a member of the Friends of the Restful Soul has a price. In order to prove herself, Ness cons her way into what’s supposed to be a simple job for the organization—only for it to blow up in her face. Literally. Tangled up in the aftermath of an explosive assassination, Ness and the only other survivor—a Nightmare boy who Ness suspects is planning to eat her—must find their way back to Newham and uncover the sinister truth behind the attack.
Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: There is no version of this list that exists without Hell Bent being featured. You want some dark academia? I’ll give you some dark academia (after you read book one, Ninth House, first; don’t want anyone throwing themselves into book two of a series unaware, after all).
Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell in #1 >New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo’s Hell Bent.
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
[continued description under the cut]
Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.
Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.
Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children #8) by Seanan McGuire
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: I’m a pretty big Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant fan, and her annual Wayward Children releases are the twisty fairytale novellas I need to kick off every year. They’re quick, fun, quirky, and often beautiful reads, and I will continue to read them as long as they’re released. This one is a standalone as well, so no need to read the other seven first – but I might recommend them.
Welcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.
If you ever lost a sock, you’ll find it here.
If you ever wondered about favorite toy from childhood… it’s probably sitting on a shelf in the back.
And the headphones that you swore that this time you’d keep safe? You guessed it….
[continued description under the cut]
Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He’s not in the shop, and she’ll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she finds that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds.
And stepping through those doors exacts a price.
Lost in the Moment and Found tells us that childhood and innocence, once lost, can never be found.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Release date: January 10th (January 19th UK)
Why is it on this list?: This just sounds so cute and like the kind of faerie romance I could get behind (pointedly looking away from the SJM-popularized faerie romances, thank you). And come on, a curmudgeonly professor discovers friendship? Honestly, this just sounds so cosy and atmospheric and sweet.
A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.
[continued description under the cut]
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones–the most elusive of all faeries–lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.
The Heavenly Sword by Alice Poon
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: Chineses folklore and fantastical martial arts! That about sums up why it’s here. This sounds wonderful, and after the very-wonderful The Art of Prophecy last summer, I’m personally ready to take on some more martial arts-inspired high fantasy.
Set in a world of human conflicts, fantastical martial arts, sorcery and celestial magic, Alice Poon’s debut fantasy, The Heavenly Sword, follows a martial maiden’s heartbreaking adventures in her quest for love and justice.
[continued description under the cut]
The goddess Chang’e is sent to the mortal world to stop the Sky Wolf Zhu Di’s plans to usurp the throne. Reborn as Tang Sai’er, a simple village girl, her celestial mission requires all that Sai’er can give, but in order to protect her family and the village people from the effects of Zhu Di’s brutal civil war, she must also fight a battle against her growing feelings for a member of the evil tyrant’s court.
When Sai’er and her allies pit themselves against the wicked new Emperor and other adversaries including the vicious Green Dragon, Sai’er has to enlist the help of immortals. But even with their help, she finds that her dreams are on a collision course with her mission.
The Heavenly Sword is the first part of a spellbinding duology weaving Chinese mythical folklore and speculative history into a sweeping tale of family love, fellowship loyalty, loss, sacrifice and kung fu rivalry.
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
Release date: January 10th
Why is it on this list?: A YA novel dealing with clinical depression and grief, told in prose, and with magical and fairy tale elements – there’s a lot going on here, and it all sounds rather lovely. The cover is likewise lovely, obviously.
They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.
[continued description under the cut]
Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same street, the two start to realize that their lifelines may have twined and untwined many times before.
They are both terrified of the forest at the end of Marsh Creek Lane.
The Forest whispers to Whimsy. The Forest might hold the answers to the part of Faerry he feels is missing. They discover the Forest holds monsters, fairy tales, and pain that they have both been running from for 11 years.
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Release date: January 10th (February 9th UK)
Why is it on this list?: The idea of a supernatural horror with strong Indigenous representation and setting initially intrigued me, and hearing about the strong characterizations (with all the leading characters being women or non-binary!) and family dynamics, with no romance, only further added to that intrigue. It sounds pretty fantastic.
In this gripping debut tinged with supernatural horror, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.
When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.
[continued description under the cut]
Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too–a murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina–Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.
Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams–and make them more dangerous.
What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside?
Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan
Release date: January 12th (no NA date)
Why is it on this list?: Look, you tell me it’s “a witch story unlike any other,” and you needn’t say anymore. A queer, dark, atmospheric, and angry book, this is definitely an intriguing one.
She dug her mother’s grave in the poison garden so it would stay hidden…
From the snowy winter woods to the bright midnight sun; from lost and powerless to finding your path, Now She is Witch conjures a world of violence and beauty – a world where women grasp at power through witchcraft, sexuality and performance, and most of all through throwing each other to the wolves.
[continued description under the cut]
Lux has lost everything when Else finds her, alone in the woods. Her family, her lover, her home – all burned. The world is suspicious of women like her. But Lux is cunning; she knows how to exploit people’s expectations, how to blend into the background. And she knows a lot about poisons.
Else has not found Lux by accident. She needs her help to seek revenge against the man who wronged her, and together they pursue him north. But on their hunt they will uncover dark secrets that entangle them with dangerous adversaries.
This is a witch story unlike any other.
Briardark by S.A. Harian
Release date: January 16th
Why is it on this list?: This one is here because I’ve personally read it and very, very much enjoyed it! Super engaging, lots of atmospheric dread building, and some weird maybe sci-fi shit going down, Briardark is the first in a series and honestly, stands out in the books I read over 2022 in being the book that had me the most drawn in and creeped out as soon as I started it. If survivalist horror with a healthy dose of science fiction (I saw somewhere compare it to the show Dark, which I see the vibes of) is your thing, then this is one to check out – but keep in mind that it won’t wrap things up, as the sequel is scheduled for 2024.
Survival and cosmic horror collide in this new series, perfect for fans of LOST and House of Leaves.
For Dr. Siena Dupont and her ambitious team, the Alpenglow glacier expedition is a career-defining opportunity. But thirty miles into the desolate Deadswitch Wilderness, they discover a missing hiker dangling from a tree, and their satellite phone fails to call out.
[continued description under the cut]
Then the body vanishes without a trace.
The disappearance isn’t the only chilling anomaly. Siena’s map no longer aligns with the trail. The glacier they were supposed to study has inexplicably melted. Strange foliage overruns the mountainside, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin, and a stranger with a sinister message…
Holden Sharpe’s IT job offers little distraction from his wasted potential until he stumbles upon a decommissioned hard drive and an old audio file. Trapped on a mountain, Dr. Siena Dupont recounts an expedition in chaos and the bloody death of a colleague.
Entranced by the mystery, Holden searches for answers to Siena’s fate. But he is unprepared for the truth that will draw him to the outskirts of Deadswitch Wilderness—a place teeming with unfathomable nightmares and impossibilities.
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Release date: January 17th
Why is it on this list?: Grady Hendrix seems to be a pretty consistent writer, so if you like his other books, I’d bet there’s a good chance you’ll like this one too. A dark comedy thriller set during the pandemic – with creepy PUPPETS.
Your past and your family can haunt you like nothing else… A hilarious and terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Final Girl Support Group.
Every childhood home is haunted, and each of us are possessed by our parents.
[continued description under the cut]
When their parents die at the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic, Louise and Mark Joyner are devastated but nothing can prepare them for how bad things are about to get. The two siblings are almost totally estranged, and couldn’t be more different. Now, however, they don’t have a choice but to get along. The virus has passed, and both of them are facing bank accounts ravaged by the economic meltdown. Their one asset? Their childhood home. They need to get it on the market as soon as possible because they need the money. Yet before her parents died they taped newspaper over the mirrors and nailed shut the attic door.
Sometimes we feel like puppets, controlled by our upbringing and our genes. Sometimes we feel like our parents treat us like toys, or playthings, or even dolls. The past can ground us, teach us, and keep us safe. It can also trap us, and bind us, and suffocate the life out of us. As disturbing events stack up in the house, Louise and Mark have to learn that sometimes the only way to break away from the past, sometimes the only way to sell a haunted house, is to burn it all down.
The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott
Release date: January 17th
Why is it on this list?: What’s a fantasy book list if it doesn’t have dragons? This novella features a mother as the main character, tracking down her kidnapped adult son, and let’s be real: middle-aged mothers aren’t usually the protagonists of fantasy stories, so that alone is a breath of fresh air!
Kate Elliott’s action-packed The Keeper’s Six features a world-hopping, bad-ass, spell-slinging mother who sets out to rescue her kidnapped son from a dragon lord with everything to lose.
There are terrors that dwell in the space between worlds.
[continued description under the cut]
It’s been a year since Esther set foot in the Beyond, the alien landscape stretching between worlds, crossing boundaries of space and time. She and her magical travelling party, her Hex, haven’t spoken since the Concilium banned them from the Beyond. But when she wakes in the middle of the night to her son’s cry for help, the members of her Hex are the only ones she can trust to help her bring him back from wherever he has been taken.
Esther will have to risk everything to find him. Undercover and hidden from the Concilium, she and her Hex will be tested by dragon lords, a darkness so dense it can suffocate, and the bones of an old crime come back to haunt her.
Barrow of Winter (Hall of Smoke #3) by H.M. Long
Release date: January 17th
Why is it on this list?: I haven’t read any of the Hall of Smoke books, but they always catch my eye at the bookstore, so maybe putting it on this list will serve as a personal reminder to actually check them out. I’ve heard this entry in the series does stand on its own, and it sounds like an atmospheric high fantasy world.
Thray is the Last Daughter of Winter, half immortal and haunted by the legacy of her blood. When offered a chance to visit the northern land of Duamel, where her father once ruled, she can’t refuse – even if it means lying to the priesthood she serves and the man she loves.
[continued description under the cut]
In Duamel, Thray’s demi-god siblings rule under the northern lights, worshipped by arcane cults. An endless winter night cloaks the land, giving rise to strange beasts, terrible storms and a growing, desperate hunger. The people of Duamel teeter on the edge of violence, and Thray’s siblings, powerful and deathless, stand with them on the brink.
To earn her siblings’ trust and find the answers she seeks, Thray will have to weather assassinations, conspiracies and icy wastelands. And as her siblings turn their gaze towards the warmer, brighter land she calls home, she must harness her own feral power and decide where her loyalties lie.
Because when the spring winds blow and the ice breaks up, the sons and daughters of Winter will bring her homeland to its knees.
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Release date: January 19th (no NA date)
Why is it on this list?: This is one of my most anticipated releases of January, and I honestly couldn’t nail down the reason why! Is it because this sounds like an adventure novel with a well-built world? Maybe, but if I’m honest, it’s also because any book that has vibes worthy of this cover has got to have something going for it.
Kissen kills gods for a living, and she enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skediceth, god of white lies, who is connected to a little noble girl on the run.
[continued description under the cut]
Elogast fought in the god war, and helped purge the city of a thousand shrines before laying down his sword. A mysterious request from the King sends him racing back to the city he destroyed.
On the way he meets a godkiller, a little girl and a littler god, who cannot find out about his quest.
Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim
Release date: January 24th
Why is it on this list?: If I haven’t made this clear by now, let me just be really transparent: I like to feature speculative fiction that’s not set in Western worlds. Diverse settings are fun, especially when you take a genre like fantasy that is still thought of to be mainly medieval European-inspired written by white men. This is not that! It’s an Arabian-inspired YA fantasy that features one of my fantasy book favourite mythological creatures, djinn.
In the hidden desert city of Qalia, there is secret spice magic that awakens the affinities of those who drink the misra tea. Sixteen-year-old Imani has the affinity for iron and is able to wield a dagger like no other warrior. She has garnered the reputation as being the next great Shield for battling djinn, ghouls, and other monsters spreading across the sands.
[continued description under the cut]
Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother, who tarnished the family name after it was revealed that he was stealing his nation’s coveted spice–a telltale sign of magical obsession. Soon after that, he disappeared, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes. Despite her brother’s betrayal, there isn’t a day that goes by when Imani doesn’t grieve him.
But when Imani discovers signs that her brother may be alive and spreading the nation’s magic to outsiders, she makes a deal with the Council that she will find him and bring him back to Qalia, where he will face punishment. Accompanied by other Shields, including Taha, a powerful beastseer who can control the minds of falcons, she sets out on her mission.
Imani will soon find that many secrets lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes–and in her own heart–but will she find her brother?
The first book in an epic fantasy series set in an Arabian-inspired land with secret spice magic. Raised to protect her nation from the monsters lurking in the sands, sixteen-year-old Imani must fight to find her brother, whose betrayal is now the country’s greatest threat.
Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
Release date: January 24th
Why is it on this list?: This just sounds fun! Ghost-hunting reality television series filming in an actual haunted house, whatever could go wrong? 😱 Sure, this is not the most unique plot setup, and told in that classic horror story way of tapes, journals, etc., but damn if it’s not a trope that I can get behind.
A ghost-hunting reality TV crew gain unprecedented access to an abandoned and supposedly haunted mansion, which promises a groundbreaking thirteenth episode, but as they uncover the secret history of the house, they learn that “reality” TV might be all too real — in Bram Stoker Award nominated author Craig DiLouie’s latest heart pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense.
[continued description under the cut]
Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. It’s led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin and features a dedicated crew of ghost-hunting experts.
Episode Thirteen takes them to Matt’s holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This crumbling, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about the bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It’s also, undoubtedly, haunted, and Matt hopes to use their scientific techniques and high tech gear to prove it.
But, as the house begins to slowly reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of.
A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, correspondence, and research files, this is the story of Episode Thirteen — and how everything went horribly wrong.
Critical Mass (Delta-V #2) by Daniel Suarez
Release date: January 24th
Why is it on this list?: I should mention – this is book two in a series, so if it sounds interesting, you probably want to check out the first book before jumping into this. And maybe you will want to jump into this, if climate crisis sci-fi with astronauts is your thing! It sounds like a pretty technical and scientific book, if that’s your sort of sci-fi jam.
In New York Times bestselling author Daniel Suarez’s latest space-tech thriller, a group of pioneering astropreneurs must overcome never-before-attempted engineering challenges to rescue colleagues stranded at a distant asteroid—kicking off a new space race in which Earth’s climate crisis could well hang in the balance.
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When unforeseen circumstances during an innovative—and unsanctioned—commercial asteroid-mining mission leave two crew members stranded, those who make it back must engineer a rescue, all while navigating a shifting web of global political alliances and renewed Cold War tensions. With Earth governments consumed by the ravages of climate change and unable to take the risks necessary to make rapid progress in space, the crew must build their own nextgen spacecraft capable of mounting a rescue in time for the asteroid’s next swing by Earth.
In the process they’ll need to establish the first spin-gravity station in deep space, the first orbiting solar power satellite and refinery, and historic infrastructure on the moon’s surface—all of which could alleviate a deepening ecological, political, and economic crisis back on Earth, and prove that space-based industry is not only profitable, but possibly humanity’s best hope for a livable, peaceful future.
Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian
Release date: January 30th
Why is it on this list?: More of a romance than many on this list, this one is supposed to be a fairly comforting and mesmerizing book. If you like urban fantasy with romance, solid characterization, and some flowy and thoughtful prose, this could be a solid one to add to your own list.
Aurelia Schwartz has spent twenty-three years maintaining the equilibrium between her carefully curated human life and the magical one that she endures in secret. With a devoted best friend and top marks at a prestigious university, she has everything one could possibly want neatly within her grasp.
[continued description under the cut]
Except, her gift of green magic has begun to fade, and if that wasn’t enough to upset the balance of her life, a fateful run-in with another power-hungry witch with a penchant for stolen magic has threatened to bring it all to ruin.
Cast into an unexpected alliance with her dreadfully arrogant classmate, Aurelia goes into hiding among a peculiar family of witches, where she discovers that the secret to their safety requires breaking rules she has followed all her life:
Make no promises,
Tell no one what you are,
and
Never stay the night.
The Drift by C.J. Tudor
Release date: January 31st (January 19th UK)
Why is it on this list?: Apocalyptic horror! With a mystery! There will be no sense of building dread and foreboding, this will just be a fun read!
Survival can be murder . . .
Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. During a hasty escape from a secluded boarding school, her schoolbus careened over a hillside road during one of the year’s heaviest snowstorms, trapping her inside with a handful of survivors, a brewing virus and no way to call for help. If she and the remaining few want to make it out alive, with their sanity–and secrets–intact, they’ll need to work together or they’ll be buried alive with the rest of the dead.
[continued description under the cut]
A former detective, Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She is in a cable car suspended far above a snowstorm and surrounded by strangers in the same uniform as her, with no memory of how they got there. They are heading to a mysterious place known only to them as The Retreat, but when they discover a dead man among their ranks and Meg spies a familiar face, she realizes that there is something far more insidious going on and begins to use the skills from her former life to interrogate her fellow passengers.
Carter is gazing out the window of the abandoned ski chalet that he and his ragtag compatriots call home. As the years drag on, the view of pine forests and mountaintops has become wallpaper. Together, they manage what they can to survive–mostly manufacturing vaccines against a deadly virus in exchange for life’s essentials. But as their generator begins to waver, the threat of something lurking in the chalet’s depths looms larger, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails–for good.
The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater threat–one that threatens to consume all of humanity.
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
Release date: January 31st
Why is it on this list?: And we go from technical climate crisis sci-fi three books up to heart-warming, character-driven climate crisis sci-fi! Beyond that, this line alone from the synopsis makes this deserving of some attention: “Working with a team of robots, naked mole rats, and a very angry cyborg cow, they quietly sow seeds of subversion.”
The Terraformers is an equally heart-warming and thought-provoking vision of the future for fans of Becky Chambers, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Martha Wells.
Destry is a top network analyst with the Environmental Rescue Team, an ancient organization devoted to preventing ecosystem collapse. On the planet Sask-E, her mission is to terraform an Earthlike world, with the help of her taciturn moose, Whistle. But then she discovers a city that isn’t supposed to exist, hidden inside a massive volcano. Torn between loyalty to the ERT and the truth of the planet’s history, Destry makes a decision that echoes down the generations.
[continued description under the cut]
Centuries later, Destry’s protege, Misha, is building a planetwide transit system when his worldview is turned upside-down by Sulfur, a brilliant engineer from the volcano city. Together, they uncover a dark secret about the real estate company that’s buying up huge swaths of the planet―a secret that could destroy the lives of everyone who isn’t Homo sapiens. Working with a team of robots, naked mole rats, and a very angry cyborg cow, they quietly sow seeds of subversion. But when they’re threatened with violent diaspora, Misha and Sulfur’s very unusual child faces a stark choice: deploy a planet-altering weapon, or watch their people lose everything they’ve built on Sask-E.
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Happy New Year! Do you have any reading resolutions for 2023?
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